By the time Ezra and I came back up for air, I didn't have much time to get ready for work. I was going to be late. My legs were already aching from my body riding his as he took me over and over again. I was shaking from the exhaustion and high he had given me. Every time I thought I had enough, he pulled me back under for more.

I quickly pulled on my uniform when I realized what time it was. Ezra watched me as I leaned closer to the mirror to apply some eyeliner. 

I looked back at his relaxed body and it was heavenly. If it weren't for the weekend trip we were going to take, I would grab my phone right now and call Jules to tell him I wouldn't be in tonight. I still needed the money and taking off this weekend would hit me hard financially. I wasn't sure if Brynn was going to come back and I couldn't afford to pay for this apartment by myself. I frowned when I thought about the best friend I hadn't spoken to in a long time. I hoped she was alright.

"You have that face again. You still want to go with me to Indiana this weekend, right?" He looked a little nervous.

"Yeah, I still want to go. I'm just thinking about Brynn. I never meant to hurt her. I just miss her a lot."

"She will come around. Don't worry too much. She'll be back." He sounded so sure and confident. I wish I felt as confident as he did.

"I hope you're right." I finished my makeup and grabbed my things. I headed over to the bed and he pulled me down on top of him. I leaned in and kissed his mouth before wrestling him to get away.

"Have a good night, Beautiful. I love you." He said, kissing me again.

"I love you." I said, running out the door before he had a chance to stop me.

I pulled into the bar parking lot with one minute to spare.  I dashed inside and ran straight to the bar to let Jules know I was here. He was pacing behind the bar nervously and took a big breath when he saw me walk in. The bar was starting to fill up quickly. When I looked around the room, I didn't see the other bartender who was supposed to work tonight.

"Riley," He said frantically. "Do you think you can work the bar tonight?"

"Jules, I have never mixed drinks in my life." I said off guard.

"I will walk you through it."

" I don't know." I hesitated.

"I'll give you $250.00 cash if you stay back here tonight." He sweetened the deal knowing money talks.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?" I asked, moving behind the bar.

"You can start by pouring the shots."

I stood next to Jules and began grabbing and pouring drinks. Rachel slung drink orders at me and we fell into a comfortable rhythm. Jules gave me instructions on the mixed drinks when I ran across a few orders for them. It turned out I was not half bad back here. Jules was impressed with how fast I picked it up. He laughed and said I was actually better at it than he was. I highly doubted it, but I enjoyed the compliment. The first initial rush of the night was over and we fell back against the bar to take a breath.

"Hey Riley, you got someone asking for you." I heard Rachel call from across the bar. When I looked up to where she was pointing, I saw Aiden sitting at a table staring at me with sad eyes.

"Another boyfriend? How many do you have?" Jules asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Just a friend who I had a fight with a couple of days ago." I told him.

"It's calmed down a bit if you want to take your break and go talk to him." Jules said, nudging me from behind the bar. I wanted to protest only because I didn't know what to say to Aiden. It wasn't because I didn't want to see him. 

I poured a rum and Coke for Aiden before leaving to go up to the booth in the corner of the bar. Rachel sat him away from everyone else since she knew he was here to see me. I was glad to see no one else was around to witness the disaster that was about to happen.

I walked up the stairs towards him and he was looking down, studying his hands on the table. His hazel eyes flickered to me when I set the drink down next to him.

"Hey, Aiden." I said softly and looked down at him. "Can I sit down?" I didn't just want to assume he wanted me over here with him even though I knew he only came here for me.

"Yeah, sure." He said, looking back at me. I slid my tired body into the booth and almost collapsed. My body was depleted from work and the long hours I had been spending with Ezra.

There was an awkward silence between Aiden and me that only ever came when Ezra was in my life. We had our moments before, but it had never been this hard with him. We didn't know how to talk to each other anymore.

"How have you been?" I asked, trying to fill the silence. He lifted his drink to his soft pink lips and took a sip before answering.

"I really miss you." He said, putting his glass back down. He looked at me, not ashamed of admitting what he was feeling.

"I miss you too." I said with complete honesty. I knew it only complicated things more, but I really did miss the friendship we had.

"Are you still seeing him?"

"I am." There was no point in tiptoeing around this. Aiden had been dragged through the mud enough with my secrets and deserved to know the truth.

"You really do love him, don't you?" He asked, his face fell. I know he needed to hear this to move on. It was selfish of me to try to keep Aiden for myself. I had to let him go just like my Mom told me back at the house. Aiden was a great guy and deserved better than what I had done to him. I could never offer him the kind of life he wanted with me.

"More than I ever knew was possible." I covered his hand with mine to try to comfort him. He didn't pull away from me. Instead, he wrapped his fingers tightly in mine and squeezed.

"I've always known it, Riley. I know you wanted him in a way you will never want me. I was hoping I could find a way to change your mind. I sat back and watched him do things to you and hurt you in ways no woman should ever have to go through. When you walked down the stairs at the house when you found out you were pregnant, I knew things would never be the same for you. I still loved you even then. Even when you had his baby inside you, I kissed you the night of the bonfire, hoping you would finally see me and know I would take care of you. That didn't work. After he left, I thought I was finally going to get the girl of my dreams. We were good together until he bullied his way back into your life. I wish he never came back to you.  I wish he stayed gone. I wish you chose me instead."

Aiden was staring at me like he was looking for something, anything to hold onto.  He wanted me to tell him he was wrong and I could love him the way I loved Ezra.  I had lied so much. It would have been easier to tell him what he wanted to hear to spare his feelings.  Instead, I opted to tell him the truth even though it would hurt. 

"Aiden, you are the best person I know and you deserve someone amazing who can give you everything they have. I lost myself to Ezra the moment I met him. I wasn't fair to you when I let you think I could be that person for you." He looked at me and nodded, smiling.

"I know, Ry, it should have been different. Since we are being completely honest, I had feelings for you since we were little. With JD being my best friend, I never had the guts to tell you. I keep thinking if I would have said something sooner, we could have been happy together and you would have never met him and had to go through this." He was looking back down at his glass, reflecting back and wondering if he made a mistake. I know I had to say something, but I was not sure if I was hurting him more or helping him.

"Aiden, I think what happened was exactly where we were both meant to be. Just because I am with Ezra again doesn't change how much you mean to me. You are a really great friend and I don't want to lose you over this."

"You will never lose me, Ry. I'm not going anywhere. I just have to figure this messed up situation out in my head. You, JD, and your parents have been like my second family for years. This isn't going to change that."  Aiden took another drink.

"I'm glad we can still be friends after all this."  I said smiling, my body was relaxing and a huge smile spread across my face.  I thought I had ruined everything with him; I never expected for this to turn out this way.  Aiden really was better than anyone else I had ever known. 

"Speaking of friends, have you heard from Brynn?" He asked, changing the subject.

"No, she has been MIA since the night you came over." I was so excited about my reunion with Aiden, I completely forgot about the other missing piece of my story.

"She can be a flakey person, but I guess you know her better than I did." He took another drink and leaned back into the seat, staring at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked curiously. 

"I'm just saying. It always amazed me how you could stay friends with her even though she was completely obsessed with you." He looked at me like it was common knowledge and something everyone knew.

"What are you talking about?" I was even more confused by his statement. I had no idea what he was trying to tell me.

"She talked about you constantly. She would always ask me who I thought was prettier when we were going out. If I said anything nice about you, she would start a fight. We broke up because she was jealous of what you and I had. I was never really sure if she wanted to be with me because of me or because she wanted to make you jealous of her too. It was always like she thought she was in competition with you. How did you not notice?"

"What?" I asked with my eyes growing wide.

That was not the Brynn I knew. She did like a lot of attention, but we didn't compete over anything.  If she wanted something, I usually stood back as she took it.  The only exception being the dark-haired boy with the rings who was in my bed. He was mine.

"I'm serious, Riley. I'm not sure she is the person she pretends to be when she is around you. I think you need to know that. You need to be careful around her." He took another sip of his drink before standing up. "Look, I have to go. I just wanted to make sure you were still safe. I promise I will not tell your family about Ezra, but you should soon before history repeats itself. I can't stand by and watch your family go through the lies again."

"Thanks, Aiden." I said, thinking over everything he just told me. He nodded and walked down the stairs towards the exit.

My brain was muddled as I replayed the conversation in my head. Was Aiden telling me the truth about Brynn?  He had never been a deceitful person and there wasn't a bone in his body that would try to get revenge on someone.  I really had to consider if I should take his warning seriously or not.